World-beating designs combined with quality and a quirky attitude has helped New Zealand business phil&teds cut through the clutter of the crowded international nursery products market.

Niche products live up to their marketing promise – to help parents ‘adapt & survive’.

“We believe that nursery products should be aimed at helping parents to manage their day, live their chosen lifestyle and retain their sense of self, even with kids in tow. They need the kit with which to do that, and phil&teds provides exactly that,” explains head of show & tell, Richard Shirtcliffe.

That ‘kit’ is phil&teds' extensive and growing bunch of unique products across six nursery categories: push, sleep, feed, carry, drive, adapt. These unique products include the only travel cot in the world that’s lighter than the baby, car seats, clip-on highchairs, the world’s original and only inline™ buggy and related matching accessories.

The all-important underlying brand values and humour are very engaging for retailers and parents alike, and Mr Shirtcliffe says phil&teds is now well established as an international brand leader in the expanding global niche of the massive nursery products industry, winning numerous international awards.

New category and product development and innovation are critical to this company’s success.

“Ideas come from our own parenting inspiration, from ardent phil&teds consumers and from encouraging a ‘let the best idea float to the top’ culture. Staff from any part of the company are encouraged to bounce ideas off each other, within some structure to ensure focus,” says Phil Brace, head of imagination & reality.

Since Campbell Gower, chief cook and bottle washer, took over phil&teds in 1998, the firm’s strategy has been to focus on what it can do best and outsource the rest.

“We go for those parts of the chain where we can add value: our IP, brand, design, supply chain and relationships,” says Mr Gower.

Products are manufactured in China and shipped directly to market, with manufacturing partners working exclusively for phil&teds. He says the company has put in a huge effort to improve quality control to near perfect.

Along with the growth of its core business, phil&teds is also developing new businesses. It has created the mokopuna merino™ baby clothing brand which it now successfully sells in New Zealand (to one in five babies), the UK, Australia, Canada, Scandinavia and Benelux, with potential for distribution worldwide. It’s also launched bam!, a mid-market brand of nursery hardware.

 

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